
SONGS 

of a 

DREAM 



By 
Alfred James Fritchey 



ii 




Book. ' ^ fo 

Gopyriglit]^^^ 



COKmiGHT DEPOSm 



SONGS OF A DREAM 

By 

ALFRED JAMES FRITCHEY 



Published by 

A. J. FRITCHEY 

523 San Julian Street 

Los Angeles 



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APR --/ 

C14673G17 



1922 



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Copyright 1922 
by the 
Author 



CONTENTS 



1. 


Songs of a Dream. 




I. The Dream. 




II. The Treasure Case. 




III. The Outer Rim. 




IV. The Archangel. 




V. Behind the Veil. 




VI. The New Born. 


2. 


Apple and Elm. 


3. 


Titania. 


4. 


AVild Strawberries. 


5. 


The Fountain. 


6. 


Aucassin and Nicolette. 


7. 


At Malaga. 


8. 


Yacuta. 


9. 


The Fallen Leaf. 


10. 


Shatrunjaya o'er Tarawali Dead, 


11. 


The Waterfall. 


12. 


Quatrains. 


13. 


The Horned Toad. 


14. 


The New Arrival. 


15. 


The Golden Land of Showers. 


16. 


Hannah White. 


17. 


A Morn in California. 



18. The House of the Seven Daughters. 

19. Croesus' Wish. 

20. Each Has His Way. 

21. Love's Domain. 

22. Desolation's Flower. 

23. The Elm. 

24. The Shy Damsel. 

25. The Jonquils. 

26. David Barry. 

27. Reminiseor. 

28. The Magical Flute. 

29. Youth's Dream. 

30. The Hollyhocks. 

31. The Winds of Suisun. 

32. Time. 

33. Sardanapolis. 

34. Karnak. 

35. The Season's Metals. 

36. Sainte Chapelle. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



SONGS OF A DREAM 
I 

The Dream 

This I dreamed : on some rose lawn 
Song- I made a far land sings ; 

Honeyed as the lips of Dawn 

Singing' to the sea-harp's strings. 

One could magically change, 
And how often followed thro', 

Had the same theme's beauty strange, 
Yet had words forever new. 

That is why I day by day 

Borrow bud and flower's gleam. 

Hoping e'er to weave a lay 
Like the wonder of my dream. 

II 

The Treasure Case 

In some hid vale I saw a case 
Of jewels richly set and bound; 

Fit to adorn a seraph 's face — 

Such treasure seldom hath been found. 

Tipt Avere some exquisite with fire 
Fit for the highest diadems ; 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



As if the rainbow did aspire 
To melt her colors into gems. 

And some Avere rare enamels bright 

In sjanbols as do please the eyes, 
That to the stricken pave deliglit ; 

And wisdom could give to the wise. 

It was the treasure case — it ran — 

Of words that are sublimely kind, 
Tliat angels use to talk to man, 

Which mortals hold so hard to find. 

Ill 

The Outer Rim 

The lips of those austere with exultation 

I heard ; 
Wlio stand by the meek fount of Inspiration, 

So myrrhed 
With sweetness, the heart in twin pang's elation 

Is tearful stirred. 

Those august ones do not know tears however ; 

Their hearts 
Are turned to subtler richness, and joy never 

Departs 
Entirely, tho' a sadness marked doth sever 

What Heaven most imparts. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



They are robed in such grandeurs that the air, 

In meetness, 
Blooms, feeling Adoration's lilies there. 

And Sweetness, 
Tliey know such joys 'twould burst our hearts to 
share 

Them in completeness. 

I was upon the outer rim alone. 

Of grace ; 
And yet each little drop like eyed prayers shone. 

Clear to trace. 
Methought as I grieved for my sins, that one 

Drop plashed into my face. 

IV 

The Archangel 

Now the archangel hath grace rare, 

And his eyelids shut like one 
Who hath heard music in God's chair 

Regent for Heaven's sun. 
His glances have such splendor, he 

Reads a life at a look ; 
While his minute's thought, on earth would be, 

A million worded book. 



10 SONGS OF A DREAM 

Robed is lie in a loveliness 

Of vestments all afire, 
Whose flame is weird in peerlessness 

Of meet august attire. 
And the tones of his voice cadencing 

When low his accents fall, 
Are melodies that light and sing 

In worlds innumerable. 



V 

Behind the Veil 

Behind the Veil are lovely forms, o'erflowing 
With radiant charm death has so well refined ; 

Forms fair as roses in their prime, rich-glowing. 
Alive to all delights of sense and mind. 

Not clothed in flesh, but in flesh-like perfection ; 

Raised by sublimity from mortal throe ; 
Knowing too sadness to show some selection 

In that high loveliness they most do know. 

Raised till the mortal touch doth seem pollution ; 

For 'tis repugnant to their senses fine. 
And they can love, from woe giv'n full ablution, 

Elxpanding to emotions, rich, divine. 



SONG 8 OF A DREAM 11 

VI 

The New Born in the First Heaven 
Nay, turn thine eyes away, thou peerless one ! 

For I am not 
Fitted for it ; of thine high company none, 
But full of sin and blot. 

Nay, turn thine eyes aAvay and let me sit 

Down by the least and lesser be 
In this conclave of joy, and used to it 

Maybe I shall grow in eternity. 



12 SONaSOFADREAM 

APPLE AND ELM 

Now, apple-blooms curl euviedly ; 
And many lovers have they too. 
For weddings they most charmino: be ; 
They do adorn nativity, 
AVith all life's richness slumb'rin^^ thro'. 

But I can never gaze on trees, 

Laden with the elm's spring delight, 
The pale-green pledge of the year bright. 

But in a realm of sudden peace 
I am, that outsplendors daylight. 



SONG S OF A DRE AM IS 

TITANIA 

Sweet Titania, the fair 

In the woods sliimbereth there. 

A tiar' emboi^sed with pearls 

Lies by her iinruh^ curls. 

Like the tint of June-blue skies, 

Folded round her wrinkle-wise, 

Is her robe, whereon do gleam 

Hyacinths as white as cream. 

There are rings, whereon are set 

Ladybug for amulet, 

Glow-worm and fox-fire too 

On her fingers tapering thro'. 

O, the stillness of her sleep, 

As the butterflies guard keep, 

And her high-born eyelids tell 

Of the land where her thoughts dwell ! 



i4 SONGS OF A DREAM 

WILD STRAWBERRIES 

Upon a hill where shone the distant bay 
We gathered berries on a cloudless day ; 
Strawberries crimson, of so sweet a flavor 
That one who tasted could eat on forever ; 
Wild and unvisited, save who their stem 
Knoweth in season, and who loveth them ; 
So modest set amid each pale-green stalk 
That one who sought them not, could overwalk. 
And such is poesy; tho' hid it lies 
Marvel of beauty to the poet's eyen; 
A berry, crimson, of so sweet a flavor. 
That whoso tastetli could eat on forever. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 15 

THE FOUNTAIN 

Dropping, 

Dropping, 
Dropping, 
In its lustrous sheen 
The fountain of the onyx fount 
Droppeth o 'er the green ; 
And each drop liquescent falls a richer colour seen. 

Flying, 
Flying, 
Flying, 
Minutes o'er and o'er. 
But the tumbling water 
Droppeth evermore ; 
Like a poet's fancy pouring from its crystal store. 



Raining, 
Raining, 
Raining, 
With its iris spray, 
The jetting water curveth 
In the sunlight gay. 
Like the bubbling spring of Life in Youth's early 
May. 



16 SONGS F A DRE AM 

Laughing, 
Laughing, 
Laughing, 
In its glowing hale 
Wealth of rushing water 
Like a bridal veil. 
And its drops fall like the laughter under moonlight 
pale. 

Blowing, 
Blowing, 
Blowing, 
As the wind betide 
Bloweth in the shade or sun 
Teardrops full of pride ; 
And the voice of many children sounds on every side. 

Ever, 
Ever, 
Ever, 
The flowing w^ater goes ; 
And the tumbling water falls 
Over snow and rose : 
Till I feel that life is like this fount without a close. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE 

Aucassin and Nicolette, 

Once the old love-tale I took 

From the library where 'twas set 

(A quaint decorated book, 

And a charming tale to get — 

Aucassin and Nicolette!) 

And to the librarian old 

For to stamp the book did hold. 

Aucassin and Nicolette, 

How she smiles this book to get ! 

Murmuring their names as tho' 

Honeyed charm did with them go. 

You and I, librarian, now 

Are neither youth nor age I trow ; 

But as lovers we are met 

O'er Aucassin and Nicolette. 



18 SONGS OF A DREAM 

AT MALAGA 

Decked with the luscious fruit of purple dye, 
At Malaga superb the vineyards lie ; 
Color congealed the grapes are, from the hills, 
And all the air a purple radiance fills. 

Voices of maid and children in the dale 
Blend with the tranquil notes of dove and quail. 
And the pomegranite laughs by many a road, 
Proud over baskets with their purple load. 

The air is as a purple bird that flies 
Has left rich trail — some bird of paradise — 
Hinting of all the pomp of purple things, 
Proud-passioned love and bacchanals of kings. 



SONGS OF A D REAM jg 

YACUTA 

Who is it rides a white horse astride 
Down the long lane of almond bloom, 
In crimson and gold the Calif beside, 
When all earth revels in spring's perfume? 
Who is it everyone's eye engages 
Who sees lier escort, knowing not her? 
Who but the charmingest of pages! 
Who but Yacuta, the Calif's daughter! 

Who is it set up a fountain fair 

That when she pressed a bulb did spray 

The Calif, wetting his august liair. 

And making him change his grand array? 

Who is it makes most annoying raids 

For which any other were doomed for slaughter? 

Who but Yacuta, dearest of maids ! 

Who but Yacuta, the Calif's daughter! 

Who is it the Calif loved they say 

So well, that when she died he never 

Would look at a woman for many a day, 

Pining in grief by a fountain ever ; 

Thinking of all her lovely ways. 

Dainty fragments of verse he taught her? 

AVho but the darlingest of fays! 

AYho but Yacuta, the Calif's daughter! 



20 SONGS OF A DREAM 

Who is it in the middle air 
That we on earth do know as Heaven, 
Down flowered colonnade so fair 
Rides, sins and cruel deeds forgiven 
Because of one great love he bore 
By Bagdad's shining, pearly water, 
Now with that sweet maid evermore ; 
Now with Yacuta, the Calif's daughter? 
The Calif ! 



THE FALLEN LEAF 

The argent revelries of spring are fled ; 

The first shy splendor of the snowdrop pure. 

The satin gauze wrapped new-born buds secure, 

AVith wistful, silver snows have vanished. 

And that great argosy into tlie dawn, 

Where from afar was brought back silver fleece. 
To glistening dower budding plants and trees. 

Seems like some silver dream of poet gone. 

Still from the dawn is dipt the argent avooI ; 

Of grander argosies the subtle proof — 

For on a fallen leaf I saw its woof. 
Silvered with beaded drops full beautiful. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 21 

SHATRUNJAYA O'ER TARAWALI DEAD 

Like a gull in the surf 
That has made his last flight, 
Tired of sea and of turf, 
My heart is tonight ; 

It will soar to incomparable depth, but no more to 
height. 

While she lies, pale and calm. 
Where she stood regal fair ; 
And winged odors embalm 
Her curved breast and fall'n hair: 
But the hate that laid her there has turned to unut- 
terable despair. 

What is this that I did 
With the noose of my lute? 
Slain, and by ire bid, 
Toiling years' choicest fruit, 

AYhich the howling years ne'er shall re-make, earth's 
gardens ever be mute ! 

the lute that I took 
From the home of my sire, 
AVhose sv/eet strings ]iave struck 
Forth such sadness and fire, 

You are traitor, for one of your strings has strangled 
mv soul 's one desire ! 



22 SONGS OF A DREAM 

Tarawali, the rare, 

Peerless of her kind, 

Whose eyes, lips and hair 

Were a lute to my mind, 

Ijies shattered, the splendid lute mocked by the wind. 

That night on the lake 
When her limbs seemed to be 
Rose-flake on rose-flake. 
And molded to me : — 

But death now has molded her into love's loveliest 
mockery. 

And the lotuses there 
In that lake by the wood 
AVere wont to greet her 
As their human-grown bud, 

Will look now in vain for her carvel to pass in amor- 
ous mood. 

Ah, gentleness made 
Great atone for her wrong ; 
And I whom pride played, 
And blind rage made so strong. 

Am dumb at the sight of the melody I have stilled 
long. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 2S 

How the lies that they said 
Now on me fallen are : 
And her grave, queenly head 
Seems to hold that great star : 

While her silence says we will meet never, on earth 
or afar. 

And the sunsets I blest 
For the nectar they brought 
Will long stain the west 
And ever be naught ; 

For one was a liangsman who noosed my soul fear- 
fully caught. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



THE WATERFALL 

0, the glorious waterfall! 

Plashing, foaming over all, 
With its freshness and its fullness of the skies ; 

With its grandeur pent and wild, 

Heaven-nurtured, undefiled, 
How its dew envelopes all with pleasure 's eyes ! 

How it comes from snows and glazes 

In the utmost, secret places ! 
How it filters thro ' the deep, untainted air ! 

Till it sparkles forth at last 

In a shower falling fast 
Over flower, fern and mosses, bright and fair. 

And if I a winged seed 

Were, that floated o'er the mead. 
Seeking where to find what pleasure toppeth all, 

I would drop upon thy brink, 

Burst and flower, just to drink 
Up thy freshness and thy glory, waterfall ! 



SONGS OF A DREAM 25 

QUATRAINS 
I 

The Unknown 
Behold an angrel, large and drooping-winged, 

And raven-clad there stood within my room ; 
And cinders dark and spiritual there fell: 

And then I pressed mine eyes hut felt no gloom. 

II 

Ambition for Power 
I saAv a saber, long and sharp and thin, 

And double-edged and handel there was none ; 
And none could hold, nay none could seize the blade 

Except it sorely cut the seizing one. 

Ill 

Necessity 
But being by a fisherman, he liooked 

A shark, and tho' all day he fished the sea. 
Catching naught else, he took the shark and smiled. 

"Sharks are not bad to eat" said he. 

IV 

Love 

Then in u boundless desert I beheld 

A bloom like butterflj^ frail-winged and gay ; 

And lo ! its fragrance filled th ' entire air; 
But when I stopped to pluck, it flew away. 



26 SO]\'GSOFADREAM 

V 

The Common Lot 

Xo wonder men pretend what they are not, 
AVhen malice e'er sits, croaking like a toad! 

HoAV many hide their sorrows, smile and go 
Out from their fellows on the long, dark road. 

VI 

Happiness 
It was a land where bubbles all were blown 

Out of the perfume of the rarest flowers ; 
And each was imaged with the dream desired, 

But strange, the bubbles all were liroke by showers. 

VII 

Inspiration 
Then inspiration touched my lips and I 

AVas 'neath a fount whose drops shone in the 
wind : 
And all the eyed drops became winged darts 
That went forth gloriously among mankind. 

vni 

Hope 

But we will not forever bubbles blow 

And have them broke by shower and by wind ; 

SomcAvhere there is a realm of light and mind 

Where all the aspirations of the heart do grow. 



SON OS F A DREAM 27 

IX 
Sylvan Beauty 

Scarlet the light is on the oleander; 

And golden-flecked the streamlet doth meander; 

And lilac pollen-headed are the fair 

Acacias trembling in the waters there. 

X 
Dreamers 
Ah. dreamers they are happiest on earth, 
For they are those unmocked by life or birth ; 
Unmocked by time, they lose one dream, and still — 
They dream — those lotus-eaters without fill. 

XI 

Delight 

And bathing in a purple pool, the spray 
Of countless, perfumed jets did on me play: 
And every jet was of a different scent, 
As when one smells an elegant bouquet. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



THE HORNED TOAD 

In the California lowlands, far from the Sierra's 
snowlands, 
In the valleys dotted with the fig and vine, 
Lives an odd and squatty creature, a bizarre, im- 
pressive feature 
Of the land where tropic fruits delight to shine. 

They have sung his praises early, for he 's never mean 
nor surly, 
Tho ' he 's full of spines and warts and is a toad. 
And one reason he is happy, is the weeds are large 
and sappy, 
And there grow a million weeds by every road. 

0, from Siskiyou to Yuma, of the plants that range 
and bloom, a 
Most bewildering variety there set is ; 
And of all that radiant flora, bugs and slugs that 
cut and bore a 
Hole, are rogues this ranger eats up like a lettuce. 



0, the snows fall oft on Shasta ! — and when Whitney 
feels the blast, a 
Chain of snow-peaks borders California fair; 



SONGS OF A DREAM 29 

And the luiues are thick on Lassen from volcanic 
cholers passin', 
But the horned toad romps his lowlands free from 
care. 

They can revel and can dally in Del Rey or Mexicali, 

Or at Capistrano penance for some sin ; 
But what men in light or shadow do in Niles or 
Coronado, 
Ne'er disturbs the horned toad from his happy 
grin. 

They can drink life's gayest chalice in Del Monte or 
Dos Palos, 
They can toil at Carmel for fame's trophies vain; 
But on mankind 's way of living, the horned toad no 
thought is giving 
In his tranquil, California-verdent plain. 



so SONGS OF A DREAM 

THE NEW ARRIVAL 

I was pageanted with glory in some hollow of the 
hills; 

Startled with a high-born wonder, following some 
brooklet 's rills ; 

For I heard a great rejoicing like from some ser- 
aphic band, 

And I wondered if I was at home or in some alien 
land. 

0, the bluebird sang above a bed which poppies 

wrapped in gold ; 
And the lilacs sent mauve taper flames to wake the 

brooklet cold ; 
And the buckeye lit a thousand candles of a crimson 

hue : 
O, it was the birth of springtime, but I did not know 

'twas due. 



SONGS OF A DREAM SI 

THE GOLDEN LAND OF SHOWERS 

When showers have made grasses green 

In spring, 
And in the west white clouds are seen 

Rolling, 
And sunset's lovely tints so fair, 
Upon the clouds so debonaire. 
Made angel figures shining there 

Showing ! 

How very pleasant o'er the grass 

Peeping, 
■It is to see the pageants pass 

Singing ; 
High oA'er on the clouds so fair 
The angels bright and debonaire, 
And some but babies over there 

Dancing I 

come and see the festivals 

Chanting, 
That may be seen in Heaven's halls 

Glowing, 
When swept by showers the skies appear! 
Bright forms celestial and dear, 
And star-eyed all. to earth so near 

Treading ! 



32 SONGS OF A DREAM 



And I have thought since childhood I, 

Gazing, 
Might some day some loved form espy 

Walking ; 
But tho' the many forms so bright 
Go by in robes full exquisite, 
Not yet one known has caught my sight 

Passing. 



8 0NG S OF A DREAM 55 

HANNAH WHITE 

There's a new note in the spring, 

Hannah White, 
Since I saw you first, blushing 

Hannah White; 
But there's too a note of grief, 
Culling like a winged thief 
From each fairest budding leaf, 

Hannah White. 

0, what rapture and what joy, 

Hannah White, 
When I first beheld you, coy 

Hannah White ! 
But you give no more to me, 
But averted looks that be 
Careless of my constancy, 

Hannah White. 

Have I hurt or done you wrong, 

Hannah White? 
That the spring's enchanting song, 

Hannah White, 
Seems no more so gay and fond 
Toucht by some magician's wand? 
Will your eyes no more respond, 

Hannah White? 



5^ SONGS OF A DREAM 

A MORN IN CALIFORNIA 

At dawn I heard the flight of birds 

Across the sky, faint-flushed with light; 

A melody of hurried words 

They seemed to me in their swift flight. 

Drows}' with slumber out I gazed 

And saw flamed oleanders there ; 
While Spring, the blithe, with beauty graced 

The gardens far as eye could fare. 

The languor of delicioiTs rest 

Was on me like a perfume dim : 
I felt like some gnat in the nest 

f some rose curled to cradle him. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 35 

THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN DAUGHTERS 

In the House of the Seven Daughters 
Their sandals are golden I trow, 
And their kirtles are finely embroidered 
With tulip's and poppy's rich glow; 
Their gohlets are chaste and enameled ; 
Their basins are silver I guess; 
But tliere isn't a maid of the seven 
Surpasses my maid of one dress. 

In the House of the Seven Daughters 
They move with much grace I am told ; 
And their earrings and silk-netted hair- veils 
Are wrought of lace, seed-pearls and gold. 
Their features are splendidly molded ; 
Their voices are sweet as a bell ; 
But there isn't a maid of the seven 
Compares with my maid of the well. 

In the House of the Seven Daughters 
They pass with the steps of a faun ; 
And the worker who sculptures in marble 
Their figures has exquisite drawn. 
But there isn't on frieze or on cornice, 
In Athens or anywhere known. 
Gold-sandaled or sandaled with jewels 
Like the bare-footed lassie I own. 



36 SON GS F A DREAM 



CROESUS' WISH 

Cover my couch with maple leaves, 

In scarlet and in yellow sheen ; 
Simplicity's most gentle weaves 

Let my last couch be seen. 
Tear from my quilt the golden fringe ; 

The seeded pearls strow them elsewhere ; 
There will be none then come to cringe 

"When I lie silent, paupered there. 

I who in life was tricked by show ; 

Passed out life 's blossom for a gem ; 
In purple splendors lived aglow ; 

And rich with rubied diadem ; 
Desire no false honors spread 

When silent is the breast now heaves. 
Envied alive, unenvied dead. 

Cover my couch with maple leaves! 



SONGS OF A DREAM 37 

EACH HAS HIS WAY 

Some like the hail and the showers, 

The storm and the tempest's dark strife; 
Some like the sun and the flowers, 
A cot and a calm shepherd's life. 
0, each has his way. 
Be it what it may : 
Some will be grave and some will be gay. 

Some like the ocean's vast play-ground, 

The free and the boundless, and frown 
That some a cell in some byway ground 

Like, where there's scarce room to kneel down. 
0, each has his way. 
Be it what it may : 
Some will be grave and some will be gay. 

Some like the heavens and soar there ; 

Light's glories and all there might be; 
And some like the earth, and adore there 
All things that are flesh and earthly. 
,each has his way. 
Be it what it may : 
Some will be grave and some will be gay. 



38 SONGS OF A DREAM 

LOVE'S DOMAIN 

Thro' mustard that yellowed the hill, 

'Neath cloudlets so fleecy and white, 
We wandered as fond lovers will, 

Till we came to a tree on the height. 
Ah me, love's domain is a world! 

When from the hill's crown 'tis espied 
O'er a hamlet so peacefully curled, 

Ah me, love 's domain is full wide ! 

Since then I have wandered o 'er seas ; 

Have climbed over bleak mountains high ; 
Have trod in strange lands ; none of these 

Have had what I fain would espy. 
Ah me, love's domain tho' a world 

Must be in a realm long espied, 
In a hamlet so peacefully curled 

Where the mustard blows o'er the hill-side. 



SONGS OF A DREAM S9 

DESOLATION'S FLOWER 

Here on the beach where frets the flowing surf 
I found a poem of an antique mold, 
Which nature made in some fantastic mood 

And buried 'neath a million years of turf: 

Starred like the bloom that mystic marshes hold, 
Where desolation reigns, and solitude 

Howls in a silence to a dead moon stark. 

This tablet has the rippling ages mark! 
It is a shell-fish of an age o'erthrown: 
A conscious something turned into a stone. 



40 SONGS OF A DREAM 

THE ELM 

There is no tree 
So blossomy 
In the Avhole realm of treedom 
As the elm is he. 

Against the sky 
On his branches high 
How the pale green bouquets 
Seize the eye ! 

In the radiant air, 
On the branches bare, 
Of the stately tree shine 
Seed-wings fair. 

As if there dropt 
From the rain just stopt, 
A subtle influence the 
Bare boughs topt : 

That spiritually 
Drew forth from the tree, 
The soul to shine there 
Celestially. 



THE SHY DAMSEL 

He will speak no more to me, mother, 

He will speak no more I know. 
For I answered his question rude, mother, 

Being then frightened so. 
Being filled with such melody, mother. 

That all my words came dim ; 
He will speak no more to me, mother, 

And I cannot speak to him. 

He will speak no more to me, mother, 

And the days will very long be : 
And to think how I waited, mother, 

For the day he would speak to me. 
But I was so frightened, mother, 

I answered his question cold ; 
And I cannot speak to him, mother, 

For that would be too bold. 

He will speak no more to me, mother. 

And now that careless girl 
Who has not my shyness, mother, 

Will set his head in a whirl ! 
And maybe will marry him, mother. 

And my heart it will bleed sore. 
I might have known him, mother ; 

He will speak to me no more. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



THE JONQUILS 

The jonquils spring 
By stream meandering, 
So fair 
They seem like topazes blown there. 

So fair they shine 
Mellower than rare wine, 
They seem 
To have quaffed some celestial beam. 

And should one come 
Sudden upon their bloom. 
Right here 
In the spear-grass glittering mere. 

He would not know 
If topazes did grow, 
Or bloom 
From heaven o'erflowing down did come. 



SONGS O F A DREAM 4S 

DAVID BARRY 

David Barry, how's the fishing over there on Gut 

Creek now? 
How's the trail that hugs the Swayback, leading up 

to Lookout's brow? 
How's the salmon flies for fishing that I hunted and 

you gave ? 
Also, how's your sister, Dave? 



David Barrj', how's the hunting now for squirrels 

and for jacks? 
Have you seen a deer or any bear or mountain lion 

tracks ? 
Have you caught a chipmunk or that gray fox — such 

a cunning knave — 
Also, how's 3'our sister, Dave? 



David Barry, how's the swimming down at Mussel 

Rock where we 
Ducked each other just last summer in the white 

surf of the sea? 
Have you stubbed your toes there lately on the rocks 

beneath the wave? 
Also, how's your sister, Dave? 



U_ SONGS OF A DREAM 

REMINISCOR 

wondrous flower in the prime of bloom, 

What visions of Love 's woodland thou reeallst ! 

Thy perfect blending of a matchless theme 

So beautiful in life, seems like the first 

Soft blush of love to maiden's cheek. Perhaps 

Thy sprout lay bursting from the seed, that day 

Now long agone, when one I cherished most 

Had led me thro' the forest's tangled maze. 

The sturdy Oaks were wondrous living souls 

So gently breathing from a myriad leaves, 

And clinging fraily, like a tender wife. 

The graceful Ivy twined their rugged forms. 

So under Nature's canopy the Moss 

And Ferns and delicate Hypaticas 

Were brothers nearer than the race of Man 

How happy too was I on that fond day ! 

How like the music of the birds his voice 

To me ! And hoAv within my feelings surged 

With gladsome tide too great for utterance ! 

That same dear Heart sleeps now beneath the bush 

That bore this flow'r. Myself I placed it there, 

Dug from our wood of Love's sweet memory. 

And from this bed of weariness, which I 

Can never hope to leave, with buttercups 

I see the Meadow gild his resting-place. 



SONGS OF A DREAM Jj5 

wondrous flower in the prime of bloom, 
How beautiful is Life ! How sad is Death ! 



THE MAGICAL FLUTE 

I sat by the ocean shore 
And I heard the soft tones of a flute, 
0, the magical tones of a flute ! 
Comiug up from the ocean and o'er, 
As if one that long had been mute 
Was blowing his ecstacy through 't. 

It came from the depth of the sea, 
And then it danced over the land, 
Dancing close to where I was on land, 
So elfish and musically, 
That I wondered if witched was the sand ; 
Yet I heard not a foot-beat or hand. 

But the penguins came in from the sea 

And they gathered in circle around, 

Yes, the magical flute quite around, 

And they danced to its rhymieal glee 

As if each a lost mate had found. 

Till their blithesomeness covered the ground. 



46 SONGS OF A DREAM 

They danced till the sun was quite low 
And the flute with a sharp break was still, 
O, a piercing sharp break ere 'twas still, 
And the penguins stopped dancing as though 
Life broke at the flute's magic will; 
Oh, they never their dream would fulfill. 

And the magical flute, 

I am wondering who blew't; 

For over the sea and the land 

The penguins are roving 

So solemn, unloving. 

There's no more of joy in their band. 

For never in life, 

Though Ive oft heard a fife 

And many a reed and a lute, 

Have I heard notes by chance 

That could make penguins dance 

Like the tones of that magical flute. 



SONGS OF A DREAM |7 

YOUTH'S DREAM 

There are many lovely maidens, 
And I note them as they go ; 
Dark-fringed are some their lashes, 
And some are gold I know. 
I sometimes think their flesh is 
Finer than in man spnn : 
There are many lovely maidens, 
But I have none. 

There are many lovely maidens 

I would walk with thro ' woods ; 

And some have breasts like pretty pears, 

Some like magnolia buds. 

They do not know their tones to me 

Like cherub notes do run. 

There are many lovely maidens 

But I have none. 

There are many lovely maidens 
Whom grace and charm allot 
To raise above the mortal plane 
Altho' they know it not. 
I sigh, and gaze upon them, 
Thinking each that perfect one. 
There are many lovely maidens 
But I have none. 



48 SONGS OF A DREAM 

THE HOLLYHOCKS 

All the hollyhocks I know 

As I walk mj^ garden thro', 

And I like them too, altho' 
They are but a family new. 

They are simple-minded, yes. 
And they have no pedigree ; 

But they have a knack of dress 
That has quite a charm for me. 

Their grandfather was a clown 

To the tulips long ago ; 
But they try to live it down, 

And I like them, I allow. 



SONGS OF A DREAM .j9 

THE WINDS OF SUISUN 

The west wind blows, and blissful seas 

Are in the salt tang of its breeze. 

It has the savor of the deep : 

Of rich, warm, splendid isles asleep 

With bloom exotic, and the calm 

Of purple seas that lave the palm. 

The north wind blows, and in its breeze 
There is the hint of wrathful seas ; 
Of bleak expanses where the shore 
Is icy-rimed and glaciers pour 
Down slow crevasses to the sea, 
While whiteness ruleth regally. 

The east wind blows, and all the air 
Is tinged with blossomed plum and pear. 
The first blooms of the hillside too 
Add fragrance, with scents ever new, 
Until this breeze is like the scent 
Of some rare box of enchantment. 

The south wind blows, and lolling in 
Bays of rolling tourmaline 
The fancies are, where mountains run 
Gold-mottled to a golden sun; 
While precious pearls the divers glean 
Out of the depths ultramarine. 



50 SO NGS OF A DREAM 

TIME 

Time he mellows all things, yea, 
Greater-hearted than To-day, 
Shallow, caustic never he 
Is as Now strives oft to be. 
He hath gentleness and vision 
As have those in fields Elysian. 
Nothing will be lost that e'er 
Doth a hidden worth enfold ; 
Time he hath a realm of gold 
Where he holdeth all things fair. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 51 

SARDANAPOLIS 

Sarndanapolis, the monarch. 

In his canopy of state 
Sits. His brow is stern and awful ; 

And his wives in terror great 
Crouch upon the marble stairways 

Robed as for a scene of mirth. 
Sardanapolis, the mighty, 

Holds his last great court on earth. 

Locked are all the doors and guarded; 

None may enter, none may leave; 
And an air of tragic beauty 

Haunts the place from floor to eave. 
. For the fatal torch is lighted 

And the fatal words are said 
Sardanapolis, the splendid. 

Goes a king forth to the dead. 

But the king whose choice is daring, 

And whose word rules like a sword, 
Had a rival in the palace 

"When the gaunt flames leapt and roared. 
And the women who had feared him, 

Fearing now the flame far more, 
Ran and pounded on the portals. 

Wailed upon the polished floor. 



52 S ONGS OF A DREAM 

Only so the other women, 

For a stately one there was 
Who endured the coming torture 

As if some grand fete should pass, 
Circled by her clinging children, 

In dark loveliness serene. 
Sardanapolis, the monarch, 

Knew then who was truly queen. 

Flashing in the hall a fountain 

Placid stood before the throne. 
Carved of tiger-banded agate, 

And like dripping ice it shone. 
While each jet a perfume spouted 

Out a veil which color marks 
Like a fragile ring of water 

Of a dozen, ditferent arcs. 

In this great curved marble basin 

With its cooling, perfumed rain, 
Petted darlings of the palace 

Crowded to escape the pain 
Of the blue caressing flame-tongues, 

To be crowded out in turn 
Till they sprawled on floor and basin 

Like Dore's great Bacchic urn. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



Gorgeous, glittering, terrifying, 

Was the funeral pyre of him 
Whose word had might s seal of power 

In receding ages dim ; 
For Assyria's pride could never 

See her dynasty o'erthrown. 
So the flame wiped out the stigma 

In her halls of polished stone. 

And the conqueror who entered 

That great city and first came 
Where Assyria's royal family 

Passed out in their robes of flame, 
Found like spring-bud peeping out from 

Sere leaves of the Autumn's fall 
One stray, lovely, living maiden 

In the center of it all. 



54 S ONGS OF A DREAM 

EARNAE 

In Karnak, when Karnak was young 

And her halls were fresh-carven from stone, 
When her temples were famously sung, 

And the names of her builders were known, 
There were two for the hand of a maid, 

Who was weaver of robes for the state; 
The one was a sculptor renowned. 

The other the guard at the gate. 

The sculptor to Pharaoh had ear 

And he said : ' ' Sire, the work of my hands 
Is yours and all tribute they bring ; 

Your fame has gone forth to all lands. 
I asked no reward as you know ; 

I ask now a boon small but great; 
I crave neither riches nor show 

But the maiden who weaves for the state." 

''I'll talk," Pharaoh said, "with the maid, 

And tell you what actions befall. 
I am lord of the lives of my men. 

Of the hearts of my maids, not at all, 
I can order and it is obeyed ; 

She will go forth a bride at my voice. 
But experience has proven that brides. 

Unless royal, should have some slight choice." 



SONGS OF A DREAM 



' * May it please you, ' ' the sculptor exclaimed, 

"If .you win her, a statue I'll dare 
Of her with the grace of a fawn, 

And like to a lotus-bud rare ; 
A statue that long shall rebound 

To your reign and the glory thereof. 
For there is yet no power in art 

Can carve like the fingers of love." 

So Pharaoh the maid brought and told 

The mission entrusted and said : 
* ' I, Pharaoh will add riches too : 

You will do well the sculptor to wed." 
The maid replied: "Sire, I love one, 

And I bow to you, lord of the state, 
But I cannot be happy save with 

Him only who guards at the gate." 

The guard Pharaoh called then alone 

And told what the sculptor would do 
If he won the maiden, "Now guard. 

If you win, what give me will you. 
"Sire, said the guard, statues, I've none; 

But if maidens you deem of aught worth, 
I '11 bring, if you wait some slight time, 

A maiden the fairest on earth. ' ' 



56 S ONGS OF A DREAM 

"Go wed," ordered Pharaoh, "you wish. 

My steward will grant your needs now. 
But see that you do as you say ; 

I hold it to you as a vow. 
Go wed her and take her away." 

He then called the sculptor, and said : 
"You must wait, sculptor, some future day. 

There is plenty of time yet to wed." 

The years they have passed nigh a score, 

And Pharaoh sees naught of reward. 
And oft he laughed slyly thereat. 

To think he was tricked b}^ a guard. 
But grandly his own statues loomed ; 

And he said : ' ' 'Tis a joke to the throne 
That lustre could come to my reign 

By a maiden of flesh or of stone." 

The sculptor thought oft of the maid ; 

His hands were astute to his heart ; 
And his work a famed beauty displayed. 

So that Pharaoh praised often his art. 
But one day the guard has returned, 

And with him one peerless to see'; 
And he said: "Sire, my daughter behold! 

Has love sculptured other like she?" 



SONGS OJ^ A JL^ ^-M -57 

Called Pharaoh the sculptor who came, 

And gazed on that maiden of grace. 
The sculptor though hoary and bent 

Hailed the maid as the pride of her race. 
And he fashioned a statue of her 

That stood a delight to gray Time 
To show what the maidens were like 

When Karnak was still in her prime. 

Ah, ruin now Karnak befalls ! 

Her temples are rifled and gone ! 
The raven flies over her halls ! 

The Nile laps the base of her stone ! 
But still from her columns, vine-caught, 

A shy, virginal beauty peeps forth, 
As of lover and artist who wrought 

To make one immortal on earth. 



5S SONGS F A DREAM 

THE SEASON'S METALS 

The heart of Spring is silver. 
The heart of Summer is gold. 
The heart of Autumn is copper. 
The heart of Winter is steel. 



SONGS OF A DREAM 59 

SAINTE CHAPPELLE 

In Sainte Chapelle, my lovely one, 
I stood with reverent heart and eye : 

The light fell from art 's magic sun ; 
The centuries passed in gorgeous dye. 

The love, the hope, the long refrain, 

The travail of the centuries. 
Was pictured there, in glowing pane 

That threw its light to charm and please. 

The moons since then in robes so fair, 
A ghostly band, have passed pell-mell. 

Thy memory shall go with me e'er 
As that grand hall of Sainte Chapelle ! 



